As a traditional conservative I have complicated feelings on this. Cornyn is a mediocrity, a typical Republican corporate puppet, with no real purpose to serving in the Senate except being in the Senate. Cruz, on the other hand, is the consummate dogmatist, a one-man wrecking ball. I’d be more than happy to see Cornyn go. In fact, I’d be elated. But to be replaced by what? Too many wrecking balls, and you end up with a wreck.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Texas could elect someone for anything –governor, senator, dogcatcher — who actually gets things done? Am I being dragged kicking and screaming into becoming a Democrat?

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Comments

Watchman

If you are not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Miss KBH? Not a whit. And to mention becoming a Democrap? You already are Democrat Lite, get it over with. You either believe in the principles this country was founded on or you do not, there is no middle. And if taking action on those beliefs bother you, go sit in a corner and mewl about how uncouth the people with conviction are.

Cruz echos the founding principles of this country and the direction we are currently taking is totally wrong (its the majority opinion, look it up). We need LOTS more wrecking balls who want to FOLLOW the Constitution and are willing to take action while the bed-wetters just want to surrender.

Not Buffy

Dear Watchman,

What is it about the enactment of the ACA law (or economies of scale for that matter) that you are not getting? ACA was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, you know the highest court in the land. Given the GOP’s proclivity for howling at the moon about “this is a nation of laws” (though apparently only when it comes to immigration and the ACA), I’m baffled at the continued GOP-surrogate whining. Moreover, ACA was a significant campaign issue in the 2012 election and given the president was re-elected by the majority of citizens, I think they’re the majority who counts.

Your Republicanism is confusing. It’s always been the GOP’s moist dream to have non-employer paid healthcare in the first place! You should be rejoicing.

Furthermore, shutting down the government puts a bigger crimp in the country’s already fragile economy and chips away at the country’s national security.

Don’t you know who owns the biggest portion of the U.S. debt? It’s CHINA! Keep nudging that Sleeping Giant in the Far East with these Republican-led nonsensical government shutdowns that can negatively impact China’s economy, and eventually it will awaken. Earth to Watchman: ALL war is RESOURCE oriented!

Moreover, don’t tell me you aren’t a student of history! Keep oppressing the masses by driving them further into economic despair with mountainous medical bills and costs, lower and lower pay, and your GOP elk when be joining those other oppressive myopic historical figures whose constituent neglect spawned two significant revolutions: Marie Antoinette and Czar Nicholas of Russia.

Mavdog

Ted Cruz cares about and is passionate about only one thing- Ted Cruz. Everything else is secondary to his goal of self promotion. Cornyn stands in the way of his ascendancy.

Texas deserves better.

Dubious Brother

Describing yourself as a traditional conservative is at best disingenuous. Ted Cruz is delivering exactly what he promised Texas voters before he defeated what would have been another Senator Hutchison/Cornyn. To use the phrase “a typical Republican corporate puppet” as though there are no “typical Democratic corporate puppets” and then go on to say you miss the queen of corporate puppets is laughable but then I realized you were serious.

Ask any young person today and they will tell you the Republilcans were behind the KKK and the Viet Nam War or that Global Warming is real.

The Democrats have side tracked the conversation to stupid issues by convincing poor women that their babies are so worthless they should be killed before they are born or that two men need to be married. In the mean time this country is being looted. The Dems push a “health care” bill through Congress with false promises and pay offs and expect us to just let them cram garbage down our throats.

Don’t pretend to be dragged kicking and screaming today to become a Democrat when you endorsed Obama, a candidate with no experience and a secret resume but he is bisexual and biracial.

As is usual with the press, including you, the Republicans are compared to perfection and the Democrats are given a free pass.

McKenna

I share your sentiment about our current Senators, but if you disdain Cornyn’s mediocrity, why would you be pie-eyed about Hutchinson? Hutchinson is the poster child of wasted opportunities and autopilot politics. She served 10 years in the Senate, but never chaired a committee. A gubernatorial victory was hers for the taking, but she failed to keep (or put?) her foot on the pedal during the primary. Some politicians effectively use the bully pulpit or are highly influential behind the scenes. She did neither.

marci

Kay Bailey? Really?! She was the female version of Cornyn only dumber. Her ill fated gubernatorial bid- where she made third party challengers look articulate- was an ill timed embarrassment. Say what you will about Cruz, but at least he acknowledges his constituency. Check out today’s WSJ about the ponzi schemer in Austin who contributed heavily to Rick Perry and John Cornyn–maybe Cruz is just being cautious about this, or flat out dislikes the phoniness of endorsing phonies…

Quantumman

Your comments about KBH are semi-ludicrous. Rather than bemoan the current state of TX politics why not throw your hat in the ring (if you have one in addition to your cattle) and put your foot where your mouth is. You buy ink by the barrel (or used to) so the bully pulpit is yours if you want it.

Jackson

Oh, my. Global warming isn’t real, and President Obama is a secret bisexual. Am I reading that right? Note to FrontBurner: Dubious Brother has jumped the shark. It was in the cards for some time, let’s face it.

Jackson

“Semi-ludicrous” is a silly construct, sort of like “kind of pregnant.” One either is or isn’t.

But to your broader point: why on earth chastise someone who “buys ink by the barrel” for not throwing their hat into the ring of elective politics? After all, politicians choose politics, and opinionators opine. Each has value, just like the butcher, baker and candlestick maker. Must we run for office or shut up? Most odd.

Greg Brown

Why would Ted Cruz endorse anyone who is not better than him?

Randy1116

“Am I being dragged kicking and screaming into becoming a Democrat?” —

As much as I disagree with and dislike Ted Cruz as one of my two Senators, I make two simple observations. Ted Cruz is no mystery, so the real blame goes to the people who voted for him. And, #2, the Ted Cruz Republican Party is the logical “next step.” The Republicans are, in fact, this version of the party. This is who they are.

Disgusted by filth like you

You are a pathetic coward to make such homophobic and racist statements and then hide behind an anonymous SN. As disgusting as the hate speak from years past was at least they had to stand up and be real men, unlike Internet tough guys like you.

Edward

I find the statement “either you believe in the principles this country was founded on or you do not” astounding. So Republicans – sorry, Tea Party Republicans – are the only people who believe in this mysterious list of supposed principles, and Democrats do not?
Until moderate Republicans get some backbone and stand up to the Tea Baggers within their own party, we are all screwed. One tiny faction of the minority party is about to force our country into something worse than the Great Depression, all because they don’t want people to have affordable health care.

Dubious Brother

I don’t know how old you are Jackson but here are a few things to ponder before you start calling names which seems to be the progressive response when facts hit them in the face:
Global Warming was a concept invented by Enron backin the late 80’s to early 90’s with 2 profit motives: they wanted to sell their natural gas to generate electricity but couldn’t compete price wise with coal so they invented the GW scare and invented carbon credit sales as the solution. The carbon credits would be required by coal producers thus raising the cost (to consumers by the way) and Enron was part of the carbon credit trading which would be profitable for them. Enron died but the scam lives on as it is well funded and the press never investigated it and bought into it. They needed government to be involved and the Clinton/Gore administration did in a big way. The UN got involved and just issued a 900 page nonsense report with just a little paragraph about the global warming that has not happened over the last 15 years and they can’t explanin why. If you recall the GW hysterical days when warm temps, cold temps, drought, flood, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and sunamis were all a result of Global Warming then Climate Change ….
As far as Obama, it is not secret, see Donald Young, Nate Spencer, Larry Bland, Larry Sinclair, REggie Love, Alex Okrent, Michael Signatur, Bobby Titcombe and the down low club in Chicago.

joeat

I say go quickly and take John McCain, Lindsey Graham and a few other phonies with you. Sadly, you will not be going “kicking and screaming”. It is where you will be most comfortable and we will not miss you.

Harvey Lacey

I agree. Ted Cruz is the Republican party without its traditional need of approval by the public.

Chris

KBH? All she did was make some FOX appearances and collect a paycheck.

Wm B Travis

I guess those complicated feelings frustrate any ability to make an argument.

Cruz is one thing — EFFECTIVE. And so that effectiveness is causing Wick to publically remind his readers that he is a conservative that cannot tolerate an effective conservative?

What Wick doesn’t share, directly, is that Cruz is a traitor to Wick’s class of perceived educated elite. Cruz has dangerously deviated from script by failing to repeat the pro-growth, rather obsequious to liberal-theory of governance expected of those chosen for highly-selective educations.

I miss John Tower.

Dubious Brother

The Obama campaign made promises that Obamacare would do that it doesn’t do. Getting re-elected based upon lies that blatant is probably not a good talking point.

China does not own the biggest portion of the U.S. debt, U.S. individuals and institutions do. The Social Security Trust Fund owns twice what China owns which means that U.S. taxpayers have to pay higher taxes to redeem the debt that was created when the Feds took their SS taxes in the first place and spent them.

Moving employees from tax deductible employer paid premiums to non deductible employee paid premiums is a clever way to get a tax increase but that just gets us back to the whole broken promises thing.

CSP

“Am I being dragged kicking and screaming into becoming a Democrat?”

Wait, I thought that already happened a few years ago…

Not Buffy

Be specific – what promises were not kept? And allow me to clarify – China holds the biggest portion of U.S. debt. by a foreign country, which is not a good thing.

Also, the reasons why U.S. taxpayers have to pay higher taxes to the SS fund is due to national corporations like GE, Boeing, ExxonMobil, Verizon, Citgroup, and IBM not paying their fair share of federal taxes because they move the more lucrative, profit-making aspects of their businesses to corporate tax haven countries like Bermuda, and other corporate-tax friendly or low corporate tax places, abroad, while maintaining corporate U.S. corporate headquarters for their profit-draining enterprises such as research and development.

Moreover, the individual portion that funds Obamacare comes from raising the taxes on investment income of the people who generate incomes more than $200,000 annually. The president highlighted this over and over in the campaign – so there is no ‘broken promises thing’ about it.